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CALS to appeal murder conviction of domestic violence victim

- Lee-Anne Bruce

CALS represents a mother of two who was convicted of killing her abusive partner during an incident of domestic violence

The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) has approached the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court on behalf of a mother of two who was convicted of murdering her abusive partner during an incident of domestic violence. Together with the appeal, we are launching a constitutional challenge to ask that courts take a history of domestic violence into consideration in determining such cases.

Domestic violence is recognised as a widespread and life-threatening problem globally, and one that particularly affects women and children. Though data can be difficult to gather because of the nature of domestic violence occurring in private spaces and the challenges survivors face in reporting abuse, it is thought that up to 50% of women may experience intimate partner violence in their lifetimes in our country.

“The almost inevitable culmination of escalating domestic violence is that someone will die, most often women,” says Sheena Swemmer, head of the Gender Justice programme at CALS. “In some instances, victims of abuse may respond to violence with violence. For them, it literally becomes a situation of ‘him or me’. What we’re arguing is that our courts need to take this phenomenon into account, to engage properly with psychological aspects of domestic violence and trauma.”

This week, CALS launched an appeal in the case of a domestic violence victim who was convicted of murdering her abusive partner and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment by the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court in November 2022. Prior to her arrest in November 2018, she had spent a year facing beatings from her partner so severe that she suffered a miscarriage. On the night she was arrested, she was held against her will and raped. This evidence was not challenged by the state at trial and was accepted as fact by the court.

We are appealing both our client’s sentence and conviction, arguing that the magistrate failed to provide adequate reasons in her judgment for her guilty finding and failed to properly evaluate the evidence at trial. We also contend that the magistrate did not give enough weight to our clients’ personal circumstances in sentencing her to ten years’ imprisonment.

In addition to the appeal, we are simultaneously launching a constitutional challenge to the Mandatory Minimum Sentences Regime and the Criminal Law Amendment Act. The constitutional challenge will demonstrate that these laws are unconstitutional as they fail to take into account the mitigating factors of psychological trauma suffered as a result of gender-based violence, especially intimate partner violence which leads to what is known as “battered woman syndrome”.

“The current trends in sentencing show that there is a pattern of courts discounting expert evidence and witness testimony in cases where women are accused of killing their abusers,” says Basetsana Koitsioe. “Our courts make assumptions about what is ‘reasonable’ for a woman who has suffered prolonged abuse to do when they face yet another experience of domestic violence. The harsh approach taken to sentencing fails to understand the psychology of abuse.”

The application for leave to appeal is set to be heard in late October at the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court. 

Read our papers in the matter here.

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